Analysis of Clinic Layouts and Patient-Centered Procedural Innovations Using Discrete-Event Simulation

Given that healthcare costs in the U.S. continue to climb, engineering managers can help address this situation by identifying designs for cost savings. Using discrete-event simulation, the layout of four different healthcare clinic scenarios considered in a redesign program named Patient Aligned Care Teams were studied. Model 1 is an existing layout in many clinics and Model 2 is staff-centered, while Models 3 and 4 provide additional space including common hallway(s). Our main conclusion is that Model 4 reduces patient travel distances and average queueing waits, while also providing the best privacy in accordance with HIPAA and the most security for the staff.